Deviant Art
by nearly a maniac
Summary: Years after their adventure, Moana and Maui have a strong, platonic relationship; much to our heroine's chagrin. But while Moana may be willing to forever hide her affections, Mini-Moana is done waiting and has decided to take things into her own hands... Currently a short one-shot


Disclaimer: I don't own Moana, it is the property of Walt Disney Studios. I am not making any financial profit from this work of fiction nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Author Note: I saw the movie a few months ago and absolutely loved it. Not sure if this will be a short one-shot or more, I'll have to wait and see. Hope you enjoy, it was fun to write!

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Deviant Art

Moana honestly couldn't make up her mind about the tattoo.

When she had first seen it at sixteen, inked into the skin near Maui's heart, it had brought tears to her eyes. It represented all that she had learned and become, a true Wayfinder. One look was all it had taken for her to fall in love.

' _With the tattoo, not the demi-god_ ,' she grumbled, glaring at the image of herself. _'That came much later…'_

Leaning back to put more pressure on the sails, Moana tightened her grip on the rope as she tied it securely to the ship. If they were lucky, she and Maui would make it back to her home before nightfall. She couldn't take another night stuck under the stars with the self-proclaimed "Hero of Man"; it was doing terrible things to her self-control.

' _And that damn tattoo isn't helping either.'_

Crossing her arms, she glared at Maui's back and watched the tattoo as it embarrassingly sashayed its way toward Mini-Maui. Moana wasn't sure what had gotten into the ink image of herself, but she didn't like it at all. For the entire trip it had abandoned its typical self-assured behavior in favor of this blatant and obnoxious flirtation.

It had been a long, terrible two weeks.

Moana thanked every deity she knew that its owner was as thick as the coconut trees he loved boasting about. _'If he ever caught on…'_

Moana cringed as she felt her stomach twist into a familiar knot. If that ever happened, she was certain she'd die of embarrassment. Their friendship was steadfast and comfortable, like that of family; she would never willingly tarnish it with her unreasonable longings.

She peeked over her shoulder to stare at his broad back, losing herself in the patterns inked across his skin. _'What's the use? He'd never want me,'_ she sighed heavily _. 'He's a demi-god for crying out loud.'_

Her image, which had grown more curvaceous as she had aged, cozied up next to an equally as oblivious Mini-Maui.

' _I just wish that damn thing acted more like me,_ ' Moana fumed, blushing an impressive red for her skin tone as it winked at her before beginning to fawn over Mini-Maui's arm, "cause I would _**never**_ do that!"

"Never do what?"

Moana wrenched her eyes away from the tattoo to lock gazes with her friend.

"Uh…" she faltered, unsure of how to respond.

Glancing back down to Mini-Moana, she found the image pointing at her and shaking with silent laughter. Moana grit her teeth, knowing there was nothing she could do to the magical tattoo.

"… nothing," she said evenly, eager to end the conversation.

"Nu-uh, Princess," Maui said, twisting at the waist to face her. "We've got nothing better to do and now I'm curious. What would you never do?"

Her mind raced as Maui stared her down. His full attention was on her and Moana knew she was a terrible liar.

"Well," she started, thinking of her tattoo, "there's this … girl I know." She cringed at the blatant cliché.

"You don't say?"

"It is _not_ me!" Moana snapped.

Maui raised his hands in mock surrender, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. "Sure thing, kid."

Physically flinching at the nickname, Moana did her best to ignore the teasing smirk on his face. There was nothing more she hated hearing from the demi-god nowadays, especially given her feelings for him. The nickname she had earned over a decade ago had once inspired a fierce feeling of comradery in her, nowadays it just made her feel sleazy.

He continued to stare intently at her, waiting to hear more. "Well," she swallowed nervously, struggling to continue, "you see, she's been fawning all over this… guy."

As both his brows rose nearly to his hairline, her chest tightened and Moana suddenly found it harder to breath. "I just … I don't know what's gotten into her," she stuttered, "I know he's a catch, I mean, who _wouldn't_ want him?"

Swallowing thickly, she continued; wishing to every deity out there that her mouth would stop moving soon. "He's so sweet and giving, and his physique is like 'woah'… and his hair 'dang'… But gosh, is he full of himself!"

"Ehem," he cleared his throat loudly, startling her out of her ramblings.

"But that's not the point! She's been so 'touchy-feely' lately and it's just seems so…"

"… embarrassing," she finished lamely. Mortified, Moana hid her face in her hands. The long silence that followed caused her face to burn even brighter. _'Oh gods, what have I done?'_ she lamented.

"Hmph."

At that small disgruntled sound, Moana dared to peek across the small boat. Immediately, she wished she hadn't. The demi-god sat with an intense look of concentration and unease upon his face.

"No," he said firmly.

Her heart dropped. "No?"

"Tell your _friend_ 'no'. Whoever this guy is, Mo," Maui said, crossing his thick arms, "he's not good enough for her."

Moana could not believe her ears. This was not the response she had expected to her sloppy, impromptu confession. _'Maybe he doesn't realize it's him?'_ she hoped.

She watched tensely as Maui stood on his side of the boat, stretching his neck and back before grabbing his fish hook.

"So …" he drawled menacingly, pulling out his whet stone to sharpen his weapon, "this guy got a name?"

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 _Another Author Note: Using a whet stone to sharpen Maui's fish hook – I put this in only to add to his intimidation factor. I tried to google information about how to sharpen traditional bone fish hooks and weapons, but I couldn't seem to find anything really helpful. Mostly those type of tools were sharpened by stone and other types of files. Sooo… call it artistic license that Maui has a whet stone. Honestly, it's a magical fish hook, who says it even needs to be resharpened?_


End file.
